1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the art of the selection and retrieval of randomly filed cards or other records. In a more particular sense, the invention has reference to equipment of this type in which the cards are filed in capsules that are insertable in the equipment in positions effective to expose, to a selector slide mechanism, the cards that are housed in the capsule so that the mechanism may be operated to produce only those cards that are desired, according to a code selected by the operator of the equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, the provision of edge-coded cards or other records has been well known, and in addition, the ejection of selected ones of the cards, from a quantity thereof that have been randomly filed, is a well known procedure, and has in many instances utilized the provision of a bank of selector slides actuable for the purpose of locating and producing only those cards that respond to a particular code impressed upon the equipment.
For example, my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,231,186; 3,303,492; 3,486,617; 3,625,416; 3,618,763; and 3,827,553, all related to equipment in which selector slides act upon edge-coded records to produce one or more wanted cards. Also of significance is my U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,242 which is directed to an edge-code particularly designed for use in equipment coming within this general description.
The prior art devices as typically represented by the patents listed have many advantages in respect to the swift location and production of wanted, randomly filed cards. However, they also have some disadvantages which the present invention intends to obviate. For example, in some of the prior art devices, all the cards are contained in a single, large file tray, a situation which is undesirable in that it requires that the equipment be of excessive size and complexity, and that it serve as the main repository for the total volume of cards that are randomly filed in a particular office or storage facility.
In addition, in some of the earlier prior art devices, the equipment is of a somewhat complex nature, and this of course is undesirable in that there is an increased tendency toward trouble situations developing, as a result of which the equipment is taken out of service on frequent occasions.
Still further, in prior art devices wherein randomly filed records are to be located and produced, it is often necessary to provide pre-coded bars or strips attached to the edges of the cards, under conditions that alter the physical size of the card. As a result, the card's use in certain commercially available readers and printers is prohibited. This is not true of the cards usable in the equipment disclosed in my prior patents, but is known to exist in other, competitive pieces of equipment.
Still further, it is often desired to use equipment of this type for the purpose of locating and producing microfiche or film cards. In the prior art devices, each film card has typically been housed in its own unique jacket, and for purposes of retrieval the jacket itself has been coded. It follows that in such situations the film card itself must always be returned to its own, individual jacket in order to maintain the integrity of the system. This situation is obviously undesirable, in that it is subject to human failures or clerical errors.
In order to minimize the deficiencies noted in the prior art devices, it has been proposed in carrying out the present invention, to develop a retrieval device in which there is a minimum of movable elements, using micro-circuitry as a control means.
It has been further proposed to so design the device as to permit it to be controlled by its own integral keyboard or by an appropriately connected computer terminal.
It is further proposed to develop a device capable of accepting groups of cards that are edge-coded, and that are housed randomly within removable capsules or containers, thus to permit the capsules to be stored inexpensively and in a substantial number, separately from the equipment itself, thus to permit the equipment to be of compact, inexpensive construction.
It is proposed, too, to develop a capsule for the cards in which the several capsules can be quickly structured with coded card support bars along their bottom edges, to prevent refiling of records into the wrong capsule.
It is also proposed to develop a device that is capable of randomly accessing film cards such as microfiche, which would have no alterations other than a series of edge codes or notches along the cards themselves, with jackets or other specially designed coding arrangements being completely eliminated.
It is further intended to develop a device of the type stated that is capable of selecting film cards or microfiche that may have a removable wrap-around protective covering where necessary to protect the films, with the protective covering being interchangeable from one card to another and therefore not of necessity being unique to any individual card.
Finally, it is proposed to develop a highly flexible, stand-alone random access device that is capable of being manufactured at a very low cost in comparison to existing systems and equipment designed for a similar function, and that is further capable of operation in a trouble-free manner due to the relatively simple mechanisms employed therein.